CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Thursday Veterans Affairs provided the following statement to 3NEWS:
"The delay in this case is unacceptable. We have reached out to the Veteran and his family to apologize. In addition to immediately resolving the issue, we have already begun a systemic review to ensure that this doesn't happen in the future."
Below is the story prior to updates.
Pete Barrera is a 78-year-old disabled veteran who has a host of medical problems including two bad knees. He and his wife explained that back in October they received an $18,000 all-terrain wheelchair from Veterans Affairs for Pete to use, but they say it's continued to sit in its place because it has never worked.
The couple says they can't get the VA to fix it or get them another one.
"Here we are in March, here's the wheelchair and all it does is hold hats," Pete's wife Grace Barrera said.
The couple lives just east of Falfurrias on a ranch property and they love going out and seeing the horses and the cattle. But because of his health, Pete is not able to get around like he used to and said the broken wheelchair inside the house is keeping him from enjoying this lifestyle.
"I would be able to get out and feed the animals and stuff with it you know and I mean just get out and you know just get some sun to start with," Pete said.
The couple said they decided to contact 3NEWS because of the six months of haggling with the VA in Corpus Christi to get this wheelchair repaired or replaced. Grace says the breaking point was her last phone conversation with a VA employee.
"So, when I called and I said, 'Ashley, I need the wheelchair picked up fixed' and she said, 'Well why don't you bring it over?' I said, 'Ashley, do you want me to bring it on my back? It doesn't have a lift,'" Grace said.
The couple says the VA was also supposed to install a wheelchair lift on their vehicle and that was never done either.
3NEWS did get in contact with the VA for comment and they said they're looking into the situation. They hope to have an answer on Thursday.
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